U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, met with local representatives Wednesday for an update on efforts to reduce flooding in the Chehalis River Basin.
Gluesenkamp Perez met with representatives from the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District, the Office of the Chehalis Basin (OCB), union leaders and Lewis County Commissioner Scott Brummer at the Lewis County Courthouse.
During the meeting, Brummer praised the engineering of the proposed water retention structure on the Chehalis River near Pe Ell and said, “It’s the best balance, placing people and fish first,” while labor leaders said the project could create thousands of jobs.
“Thank you to the labor leaders, members of the Office of Chehalis Basin, and Lewis County for hosting me today,” Gluesenkamp Perez said, according to a Lewis County press release. “I appreciate the commitment. I have family in Centralia. This is not novel. It’s personal. The human cost (of flooding) is very real and can’t be underestimated.”
At the meeting, OCB member J. Vander Stoep told Glusenkamp Perez the proposal “is about people, families and community in an effort to solve future catastrophic flooding.”
